DS9 on blu-ray -- What can we do?

Loving TNG on blu-ray in spite of any little glitches here and there and I've mostly avoided watching any SD Trek lately.

Went to introduce DS9 to a new fan and the quality difference is (obviously) great on a 54" hdtv between the TNG BD and DS9 DVD

So what's a Niner to do? The TNG remastering project is more than 1/2 way thru, and we know CBS wants to here from us that there's a demand for DS9. What is the most effective form of persuasion we have at our disposal? Hand written letters? Email onslaught? Online petition??

Let's get the buzz going so CBS doesn't lose the incredible momentum being generated by the TNG remaster. I'll admit it, I've become an HD snob and I really really want to see DS9 in full 1080p glory!!

Loving TNG on blu-ray in spite of any little glitches here and there and I've mostly avoided watching any SD Trek lately.

Went to introduce DS9 to a new fan and the quality difference is (obviously) great on a 54" hdtv between the TNG BD and DS9 DVD

So what's a Niner to do? The TNG remastering project is more than 1/2 way thru, and we know CBS wants to here from us that there's a demand for DS9. What is the most effective form of persuasion we have at our disposal? Hand written letters? Email onslaught? Online petition??

Let's get the buzz going so CBS doesn't lose the incredible momentum being generated by the TNG remaster. I'll admit it, I've become an HD snob and I really really want to see DS9 in full 1080p glory!!

Click to expand...

What I would do is hold your breath, run around in a circle and slam your head against the wall untill it comes out! Worked for me and TNG!

The first 2seasons of DSN would not be much more difficult that what they are doing for TNG so they could try doing those to see if sales warrant the more complex process of re-rendering all the CGI from later seasons. But according to some reports some of it still exists, some of the CGI moderls were over build. So it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Depends on the bean counters

You're already doing the number one thing that will make it happen. Buying TNGR. Keep those sales coming, and DS9 will follow...

Click to expand...

This.

CBS know very well that DS9 can expect to sell probably half the amount of TNG (possibly pessimistic), both on blu ray and in sales to stations, netflix etc. It just wasn't as popular, so they will take the TNG sales, halve them, and that will be either a yay or nay.

I would expect at this point it is seriously being considered, and they will need to decide soon. If they want to keep the momentum going they will need to have DS9 S1 out for the end of 2014 (expecting TNG S6 and S7 as early and mid 2014 releases respectively, we already know we get S5 in November).

The other thing to consider is that Trek becomes an extensive high-definition library post-remaster, that can be sold essentially indefinitely. This might drag up any forecasts based on pessimistic estimates of Blu Ray sales.

Expect to hear a decision early next year, I'd say at this point it is 50/50.

DS9 and Voyager will absolutely happen. While Blu-ray sales are nice, the money made off those are a drop in the bucket compared to future revenues. These will live on for decades through services like Hulu. Netflix, Amazon, etc. Crummy old DVD transfers just won't do.

Heck, if The Dick Van Dyke Show can get a Blu-ray release, surely DS9 and Voyager will too.

DS9 and Voyager will absolutely happen. While Blu-ray sales are nice, the money made off those are a drop in the bucket compared to future revenues. These will live on for decades through services like Hulu. Netflix, Amazon, etc. Crummy old DVD transfers just won't do.

Heck, if The Dick Van Dyke Show can get a Blu-ray release, surely DS9 and Voyager will too.

Click to expand...

While I don't disagree with you, it's important to note how much more work is required to make DS9 and VOY worthy of any type of HD release.

I would also add that Enterprise BD sales are important too. Thankfully for CBS, that one was practically Blu-ray ready, meaning there is relatively low cost, mostly profit, so it can support lower sales. Hopefully TNG and ENT sales (I'm assuming TNG sales are much higher than ENT) encourages CBS to pull out the stops. TNG Season 2 should have shown CBS that cutting corners is a bad idea.

Heck, if The Dick Van Dyke Show can get a Blu-ray release, surely DS9 and Voyager will too.

Click to expand...

While I don't disagree with you, it's important to note how much more work is required to make DS9 and VOY worthy of any type of HD release.

Click to expand...

Right.

Dick Van Dyke is quite easy to make available in HD, there is no VFX to speak of, anything was done in camera and/or simple wipes, etc. processed directly onto the film. It simply gets scanned at 1080p and put through a scratch/dirt clean up and B&W contrast stabilization routine.

The fact that sitcoms have essentially zero VFX is also why NBC relatively quickly and easily turned out Seinfeld and Friends into HD syndication packages back around 2007-ish. Since all the footage was filmed with 35mm cameras, and edited together traditionally on film, the only thing that needed to be recreated was the title sequences, which were originally added as the final step of post-production on SD video. Since everything of the episode is on the completed 35mm, film scanning the episodes into a 1080p video editing workflow and then recreating the titles in the HD workflow is a relatively trivial (if tedious) matter.

I want DS9 on BD as bad as anyone, but you have to be realistic about the huge workload it will take, just like TNG before it (plus more when you get the seasons with CGI).

Heck, if The Dick Van Dyke Show can get a Blu-ray release, surely DS9 and Voyager will too.

Click to expand...

I assume you're being tongue-in-cheek here, but it's worth pointing out that The Dick Van Dyke Show is a rather important, influential, and popular sitcom. Looking at other sitcoms from the same era, it is no surprise that few have been given an HD restoration, and fewer still are available on home video.

I'm kind of shocked I Love Lucy hasn't been given the HD treatment yet. Judging from the DVDs, the negatives are in (for the most part) terrific shape.

CBS is certainly likely to keep putting out their back catalog of Star Trek in HD. Even though the remaining two shows aren't as popular as their predecessors, they still have a lot more value than equivalent sf shows from the period, on account of the staying power of the Star Trek brand.

Also to be fair, with the current econmic climate people might not have a large amount of free cash and if I could only afford one I would go for TNG. ENT also has the disadvantage that it might not be as well known in the UK. Didin't it air on CH5 or something. Unlike TOS/TNG/DSN who aired on BBC at 18:00.